Addie's Inaugural Bike Ride (Spring 2008)

So it seems like once every two years or so we make a point of vacationing down in Southern California.  It's ironic really because growing up down there I couldn't wait to move away and now it's one of our top vacation spots.  We always seem to make it to Newport Beach, Balboa Island and the Peninsula, and Disneyland the rest is up for grabs.  This trip we also made it to San Diego but we missed out on Laguna which is nostalgic for me at least with Mike's memory it's hard to say if he feels the same.  The following pictures are from the first day of trip which we spent on Balboa Island.  (What we didn't get a picture of was the chocolate mess all over Lysie's face after eating a Balboa Bar.  I love those things and now so do Addie and Elyse!)

We visited with Cousins Lori and Leo.

Doesn't he look relaxed!

Wouldn't you like to live here.  Balboa Island in CA is one of our favorite places.  

My childhood friend Nori, her mom Nellie, and the girls and I after dinner at Wongs.

The following series of pictures are from the San Diego Zoo.  It was Mike and the girls first trip!  We took them to check out the animals but the girls thought we were there to check out the flowers.  I think next time we'll take them to the botanical gardens.  

Peek-a-boo

Daddy is just such a great role model!

Did someone say lunch?

The girls practicing being flamingos.

A visit with Uncle Eric and Aunt Janet

So the following pictures were from our most recent trip to So Cal.  It's been a lot of years since I've lived there and I guess I forget what the weather can be like.  We were hoping to recreate the fun we had last year at Hilton Head, SC with a lot of beach and pool time.  But the weather just wasn't doing it for us while the weather in TX ranged between Hot Hot and thunderstorms the weather in So Cal was pretty much cool and overcast for our entire trip.  So we never did make it into the ocean but despite that the girls had a blast just playing in the sand.  Who knew they could be so easily entertained.  

The blue photo was intentional. It was an overcast day so I flipped my white balance to normal room lighting even though I was outside to get that effect.

While visiting So Cal in May 2008 we made our usual trek to Disneyland. We might have over done it a bit this time but we all had a great time. The girls loved the fast ride. I mean seriously loved the fast rides. In fact Lysie today said the next time we go she wants to go on Space Mountain just like Addie.